Birmingham outperforms most metro areas in creation of STEM jobs

The percentage of jobs that are STEM (science, technology, engineering or math) jobs in each of the nation's 100 biggest metropolitan areas. (Brookings Institution)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – An unusually high proportion of jobs in metro Birmingham are so-called STEM jobs that offer relatively high wages, a report by the Brookings Institution indicates.

About 21 percent of all jobs in the seven-county metropolitan area are in the fields of science, technology, engineering or math (STEM), ranking Birmingham No. 36 among the nation’s 100 largest metro areas, Brookings found. Those jobs pay an average annual salary of $60,494.

Nationally, about half of all STEM jobs require a four-year college education, but in metro Birmingham 61 percent of STEM jobs require an associate’s degree or less. In Birmingham that includes technical jobs in health care, biotechnology and related fields.

Steve Ceulemans, vice president for innovation and technology at the Birmingham Business Alliance, said the Brookings report is unique because most analyses of STEM jobs consider only jobs that require a four-year degree. But jobs in those fields that don’t require a four-year degree often still pay well.

According to Brookings, STEM jobs in Birmingham for which an associate’s degree or less is required pay an average of $48,034, about 50 percent more than non-STEM jobs in the same category.

“Areas like Birmingham aren’t necessarily what come to mind when you think of a STEM-driven economy,” Ceulemans said. But when all jobs in those fields are counted, Birmingham quickly moves up the rankings.

In total, there are 94,520 STEM jobs in metro Birmingham, Brookings found. More than a third of those jobs are in health, science or information technology.